The Moveset Trouble
by JCR-Stories
Summary: A competition held by the Smashers goes awry when someone makes an unwanted change to the portals of the Smash Mansion's combat simulator. Takes place during the "Melee" era, seven years before "SSB: Mysteries of the Pure-Hearted Soul", two years before the Subspace Emissary, and five months before the start of the Black Horn incident.
1. Before the Wacky Competition

Before the Wacky Competition

* * *

 **Johan: Hey guys, I just wanted to show ya folks a fanfic of J.C.'s that he wanted to upload for some time. Here's his intended description:**

 _ **This is a fanfic that will concern the art of moveset swapping. I drew inspiration for this story after watching moveset swapping videos for both Melee and Brawl on YouTube. Here, we'll see what happens when the combat simulator in the Smash Mansion goes haywire due to… a certain problem and forces the cast into a crazy mess. Timeline-wise, this story takes place during the Melee days so that I don't need to worry about including many characters at once.**_

 _ **WARNING: Some violence and language ahead (in later chapters).**_

 **Johan: Oh, and Patchouli's still looking for me. And J.C.'s dead, but I'm gonna try to find a solution that can resurrect him or somethin' like that. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

It was a sunny day at the Smash Mansion, right in the middle of spring and two weeks after the end of the last major competition of _Melee_. The Victorian-style building, large—though not the giant structure it would later become—and beautiful, was full of fighters who were minding their own business and preparing for the next competition in less than a day. Some would frequently use in the practice dojo to actively hone their skills, hoping to become the best players in the competition, while others took their practicing sessions outside, especially since some Smashers had powers that could potentially damage the dojo. In both cases, the Smashers would then take breaks by cooling down and spending some time on eating food or, for those choosing not to consume lunch, simply relaxing their minds. Some Smashers needed mental relaxation due to a lingering anxiety that hovered over their heads like a dark cloud, worried that their efforts at strengthening themselves would be for nothing. Luigi was one of the more anxious fighters.

"…" Sitting alone in his room, he reflected on the times in which he used the dojo to improve his skills. His disastrous performance during the last competition, beating only five other Smashers in rank, was the primary motivator in improving himself to equal or even surpass his older brother—who was in the top five spots—in fighting ability; not counting Yoshi's upset against him, the matches which he lost were simply due to his opponents being better-prepared than him. Every moment that was not spent on eating or sleeping involved his placement in the dojo to sharpen his overlooked prowess and find new ways of distinguishing himself from Mario. Admittedly, he had been cutting back on the time spent in his bed, and while doing so had given more time to practice, it was starting to leave him tired. Even worse, he was worried that his efforts at self-improvement would be fruitless in the end, whether it was due to an upset or the fact that there were fighters who were simply stronger than him no matter how many improvements he made.

"Man, I can't-a shake the feeling that-a something will go horribly wrong-a at the worst-a moment," he sighed. "I swear, there'd better not-a be an embarrassing matchup like-a the one I had against-a Yoshi. And I hope to be ready against-a guys like Falco." As he stood up to leave for the dining room, he was halted when Mario opened the door while searching for the mockingly-nicknamed "Eternal Understudy".

"Luigi, I've been-a looking for you," the older plumber quipped. "I was-a thinking of having a practice session later today so that we can-a prepare for the tournament. Are you okay with that-a?'

"Well, not-a now, Mario. Once I'm-a finished eating, I'll consider joining you." As Luigi exited the room, his brother noticed his tense expression. Something was troubling him, he assumed.

"You don't-a look well, Luigi. Is there-a something bothering you? For privacy's sake, I'll-a keep what you say between the two of us-a." He followed Luigi on the way to the dining room. Unlike the later years of the Smash Mansion, the bedroom-filled hallways were smaller, shorter, and not as architecturally rich. Furthermore, the destination was located on the first floor and not stretched out between the second and third. The main hall was only one-third its later size, lacked some of the fancier details of its future incarnation, and did not possess the portraits of the Hands or the Smashers.

"I'm a bit-at anxious about the next tournament. As-a much as I don't want to admit it, I'm-a worried that some upset-a will ruin my chances of-a entering the top five spots. You-a saw my match with-a Yoshi, right? If he hadn't-a gotten lucky with that-a Poké Ball, I wouldn't have-a received my poor standing in that last-a competition. Well, my poor matchups against-a Falco, Captain Falcon, and-a Marth were also big-a problems, but that-a last one with Yoshi prevented me from-a getting a decent placement."

"Don't-a worry, Luigi. Master Hand's-a going to ban items for this-a one. Many other Smashers have-a complained about the random luck-a factor those-a things provide. Sudden death-a matches will also be removed."

Luigi scratched his nose while realizing that he and Mario were almost inside the dining room. "Right-a; those-a matches tend to be skewed toward the faster guys-a; that's-a the major reason why Ganondorf lost-a to Pikachu and-a Bowser suffered total humiliation at-a Peach's hands."

Mario snickered slightly upon being reminded of his archenemy's defeat by Peach; after all the hell through which the Koopa forced the Mushroom Kingdom, a major humiliation was something that he undeniably deserved. In fact, the older plumber even remembered Peach telling him how relieved she felt when her frying pan and vegetables almost made the giant turtle weep in pain. "Yeah, that's-a true. The latter match was-a hilarious, by the way. Anyway, I-a wish you luck during the tournament-a; don't-a be afraid and-a make sure you play your cards-a right."

"Thanks-a, Mario." While his brother retreated to his room, Luigi continued his way to the dining hall and grabbed some items from the pantry to create some spaghetti for himself. Maybe some lunch would calm his nerves before the training session with Mario, he firmly believed. After all, if he were to be nervous by then and not give his best efforts, he would surely be bested by the most recognizable hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. Warming up two of the heating elements on a stove, he began the process of creating some delicious food of Italian origin.

* * *

 _Midnight, before the tournament…_

 _Whoosh…_

"Hello? Anybody home?" A gloved hand emerged from the portal to greet whoever was standing inside the main hall, but almost everyone had already gone to sleep. The few Smashers who were still awake during this point in the night were confined to their rooms, ignorant to what was occurring in the hall. The newcomer closely resembled Master Hand appearance-wise, but his anatomy was a reflected image of his counterpart's, being a left hand instead of a right one. Additionally, he exhibited a persistent form of twitchiness that could not be tamed by outside forces, one that also stood in sharp contrast to the orderly motions of his calm relative. He was the embodiment of chaos, the nominal opposite of Master Hand's status as an entity of order.

His name was not yet known to the Smashers, but that would change in due time. Right now, he was out to prank the Smashers in an unexpected way.

"Good, nobody heard me. Gotta make sure that I'm not detected…" As he soared to the battle room on the second floor, past Master Hand's then-smaller office, he was overcome by a giggling fit that echoed silently throughout the hallway. Thankfully, however, no one heard of it. Warping his way past the locked door, he was introduced to a small room containing four portals, all of them controlled by a central console in the middle of the room. Each portal was a flat platform with a translucent surface and had a wire that buried itself into the ground and only reemerged when close to the console. The room itself was a plain cube with aquamarine walls, a few inactive lights on the ceiling, and a vent on a wall to provide cooled air during the spring and summer months. The console was what captured the hand's attention like a crazed creature locating its favorite toy; all other details were irrelevant.

"Just need to make a few tweaks to the character identification system and it'll be ready to go." Opening the console's back panel, he utilized his magic to silently alter the unit concerning character recognition for all four portals, throwing in a randomizing effect so that his prank could achieve a near-limitless set of possibilities. Closing the panel to avoid suspicion during the tournament, he quietly fled the room and soared into the main hall, hoping that his prank would proceed flawlessly or, failing that, well enough to last almost the entire length of the event.

"Oh, man; people are gonna experience such crazy mix-ups when the tourney starts. It'll be so funny as heck…" Wasting no more time to avoid detection, he warped outside the mansion to wait for his antic to be set in motion.

* * *

 **Johan: Shortest chapter ever. Don't expect the others to be this short, however… And would ya believe that, looking at J.C.'s notes, this story takes place in the same timeline as** _ **SSB: Mysteries of the Pure-Hearted Soul**_ **? At least, I think, that was his intent. Anyway, like this story and-**

 _ **Boom!**_

 **Johan: Oh, shit!** _ **Look, I'll do anything to fix up your library. Just tell me what I've gotta do! Just don't attack me or destroy J.C.'s home!**_

 **Patchouli:** _ **Are you sure you're willing to serve me to fix the library? If I find out that you're planning another tasteless prank on me…**_

 **Johan:** _ **I'm serious. I'll even ask ya a favor when I do everything you say.**_

 **Patchouli:** _ **Okay, here is what you need to do…**_

 _ **Meanwhile, at the Marrow Gates of Deadside…**_

 **Well, Mike can't take me away from Deadside. How disappointing… Well, at least I have Jaunty to keep me company.**

 **Jaunty: Quite a day you've been through, mate. Ya gonna kick the arse of whoever caused yer demise?**

 **In fact, I should. And if he and Patchouli destroy my house, I'm gonna be more pissed. For now, I just need to wait for some improbable miracle to happen…**


	2. The Start of the Tournament

The Start of the Tournament

* * *

 _Day 1, afternoon…_

"Don't-a get too nervous, Luigi," Luigi mumbled under his breath. As he prepared to enter his first match of the competition, he could already feel chills across his back. His mind was still fraught with worry, an emotion fueled by the chances of an opponent pulling off a major upset against him; since the tournament was being streamed live across several dimensions, a major upset could also result in large-scale embarrassment for the sole Eternal Understudy of the Smash Brothers. Nevertheless, he maintained his normal appearance while entering the portal room with his first opponent of the day, Kirby.

"Poyo," the puffball greeted in a friendly manner. Compared to the younger plumber, he had no traces of nervousness on his face or body. In fact, he seemed all too eager to do battle for a top spot in the tournament—and in front of live audiences in different dimensions, no less. Still, he understood Luigi's humiliating run at the previous event and his present nervousness, so he wanted his rival to not become too wracked by fear. "Poyo-po."

"A fair and exciting fight-a? Is that-a what you're wishing for me? Well-a, I hope to avoid that embarrassing run during the last-a tourney, so thank you. Oh, and I wish the same thing for-a you."

"Poyo." Cracking a warm smile to reduce Luigi's nervousness, the leading defender of Dream Land stepped into a portal leading to the selected stage: Kongo Jungle. His opponent stepped onto the glowing spot at the room's opposite side, keeping his hands low. While both fighters were warped to their assigned points on the stage, Master Hand proceeded to introduce them to the observing audiences.

"Ladies and gentlemen," his powerful voice boomed, "Welcome to the third Great Smash Brothers Melee Tourney! Today, our competitors will begin the journey to reach the top and claim victory over all others. They're ready to fight it out, but only a few will make it far. Who will claim first place? For our opening match, we have a matchup between two unlikely heroes; they may not look like it, but they can dish out serious damage if you give them the chance! Our first competitor hails from the Mushroom Kingdom and is the overshadowed brother to the legendary Mario. Many people tend to overlook him in favor of their more famous defender, but he has a handful of useful tricks up his sleeve—some of which his brother can't do—and can certainly stand his ground in solo combat. And did you know he once rescued his older brother from a haunted mansion that he somehow won? Give it up for the one and only LUUUUUUUUIGI!"

"…!" Luigi nearly fell on his stomach upon entering the stage but quickly thrusted his feet onto the ground with some grace. He adjusted his gloves while waiting for Kirby to appear, eliminating any discomfort in his hands. Unbeknownst to him, his entrance was being broadcast live in Toad Town to a large audience, including a fan base dedicate exclusively to the kingdom's second hero. Reception was generally positive, but there were a handful of people who failed to clap due to a lack of familiarity with Luigi.

"Now for his opponent," the hand continued. "To those not familiar with him, he may seem like a simple puffball who loves to play and relax, but when danger rears its ugly head in Planet Popstar, that's when he shows his true potential. He can swallow foes whole and copy their abilities, ride a speed star with finesse, and surprise you with his strength and numerous victories against deadly foes. You do not want to underestimate him! HE'S KIIIRRRRRRBYYYY!" Kirby appeared on his starting point in the stage, still eager about the fight. His appearance was broadcast in a large town somewhere in Dream Land, with many citizens waiting for their defender to triumph in battle. The reception here was even more positive compared to the Mushroom Kingdom, owing to Kirby's greater popularity compared to that of Luigi. Inside the stage, both fighters prepared to give everything they had in their strength to win it all.

"Here we go! Annnnnnd… _**FIGHT!**_ " But before either Smasher could sprint from his spot, a sudden flash of light overloaded all cameras monitoring the fight, including those sending video footage to other inhabitants of the Smash Mansion. All observers were greatly confused by this latest development, as was Master Hand; in the few seconds where light whited out all screens, they could not figure what phantom of misfortune was potentially rearing its unwanted head into the tourney. They hoped that it was just an error in filming equipment, but their confusion would deepen when the stage came back into focus. All background details were the same, but the fighters were not.

"Poyo?" Kirby noticed that his body was now functioning on a distinct frame-by-frame basis, not entirely unlike the flat Mister Game & Watch. Whether he was simply pressing his stubby hands together or traversing a small portion of the stage, he was no longer capable of fluid motion. His mind was plagued with confusion as he tried to figure out the source of his physical mutation. Was this a sick joke by a prankster within the Smash Mansion, or could it be the product of something more sinister? Meanwhile, Luigi found himself assuming the same battle stance as Captain Falcon, albeit in a partly distorted form. His head was forced upward by an unidentified force, while his feet traveled with a style that—while normal for someone like the reclusive bounty hunter—felt extremely awkward for the plumber. His left hand kept shaking via an uncontrollable urge, almost as if it was impatiently wanting to punch something or someone with raw power. Or maybe, Luigi believed, it could not contain that same power within its mortal form. Either way, he failed to keep his hand still or regain his normal posture. Something was terribly wrong.

"Eh, this shouldn't-a be too much of a problem," he sighed. Upon charging at the puffball to perform his first attack, he thought of performing an aerial karate chop of surprisingly high power. To his surprise, he ended up performing the powerful Knee Smash with awkward body physics, complete with distorted limbs and a strange posture. Kirby rolled away from the attack and attempted to retaliate by swallowing the younger plumber whole and copying one of his abilities. Instead, his body momentarily froze in place while harmless sparks strangely appeared over his head. This unwitting blunder allowed Luigi to attack via Falcon's fiery elbow thrust, albeit with a goofy execution. Kirby tried to bring out his hammer…

 _Chink!_

…only to somehow freeze his opponent solid inside a block of ice. While they were executing their earlier blows, Master Hand and all audiences were dumbfounded by what was occurring. Nevertheless, the former managed to partly conceal his true feelings.

"What's this?!" he announced. "Something strange has happened to our fighters, but they're still battling like nothing's wrong! Now that is true dedication right there, folks!" Other observers, however, were not so proficient at hiding their stupefied states. Four of the Smashers, inside a common room with a high-definition TV, were no exceptions.

"What is going on with those two?" Princess Peach questioned with a soft voice. She was wearing a brighter variant of her normal dress, and her crown was absent, stored away in her bedroom on the second floor. Furthermore, her hair was conformed to a ponytail and dyed to give a slightly darker tint.

"I can't-a say," Mario, in his normal outfit, answered. "If I had to guess-a what's happening right-a now, however, I would-a say that something's not-a right with the portal system."

"Yeah, that would be the case," Falco added. His uniform largely resembled what it would become in later years, barring the absence of his headset and the use of metallic boots. "I mean, do you remember that minor incident in which an error in the system caused my body to get all warped? Seriously, it was fuckin' horrible."

"We all remember it, Falco," Fox sighed with a confident tone. He was wearing an older uniform that he had donned during the Lylat Wars. The scouter on his headset was absent, and his boots were metallic like Falco's. Additionally, the commando was drinking from a yellow can of lemon-flavored cream soda. "Let's just hope that whatever we're seeing now is a one-off event."

Back at the stage, Kirby caught Luigi off-guard with one dose of a strange move created from the marriage of Final Cutter and Fire. The initial hit bore witness to the blade skyrocketing Luigi into the air, and when the plumber tried to execute his signature Cyclone, he instead spiraled around uncontrollably with one foot extended in front of him. Worth nothing were the flames on the extended foot, almost as if he were trying to execute the Falcon Kick but failing miserably. Kirby floated down to Luigi's location and, still having the blade out in a strange fashion, created his familiar shockwave and, therefore, more damage for his opponent. The puffball then performed a strange dash attack that functioned like Mister Game & Watch's, though it came equipped with a fiery aura.

 _Clang!_

It struck Luigi's shield, giving the plumber enough time to fight back with a grab. The plumber thought of headbutting the pink face next to him, only to fiercely strike it with a knee and perform a throw that involved him lifting Kirby's entire body into the air and slamming it into the ground. His attempt at a follow-up blow was marked by a strange combination of the Raptor Boost and the Green Missile.

 _Whoosh!_

While his starting pose was the same as always, his attack upon reaching Kirby was a clumsier vision of Falcon's fearsome uppercut. The main defender of Dream Land rolled away with choppy movement and executed Mister Game & Watch's frontal smash attack.

 _WHOOSH!_

Luigi sidestepped in time and even knocked away the puffball with Falcon's axe kick. The attack inflicted some pain onto Luigi due to his lack of flexibility relative to the bounty hunter. With the puffball soaring away from the wooden stage, Luigi leaped to one of the platforms above his head and prepared for a final blow to remove a stock from play. Kirby, lacking his distinct recovery, relied on his hybridized third jump to recover; his blade was enough to deter the man in green for at least a second, but on the way to the center platform…

 _CRACK!_

All audiences gasped at the sight of Luigi utilizing the F-Zero racer's aerial stomp to brutally launch the floating Smasher past the waterfall and into the lower blast zone. Angry yells were present among the audience members in Dream Land, furious that Kirby was now at a disadvantage, but the atmosphere was far different in the Mushroom Kingdom.

" _Let's go, Luigi!_ " most of the Mushroomers cheered. This chant was shouted at its loudest from the young men and women of Luigi's fan club, yet the rest of the crowd was hardly less enthusiastic about the plumber's latest action. Meanwhile, the four Smashers inside the common room were joined by Yoshi and Pikachu.

"Pika-pika?" the Mouse Pokémon asked. It was carrying a large lollipop, wrapped in a red film, from the pantry. "Pikachu."

"We're just watchin' the battle between Luigi and Kirby," Falco replied. "For some reason, their bodies look distorted, and on top of that, they're using moves that they shouldn't have access to."

"Yoshi don't understand," the green dinosaur chirped confusedly. He was carrying a white bowl of cheese-flavored popcorn, one of his favorites from the Smash Mansion's kitchen. Within seconds, his tongue began snatching up bits for itself, but he was courteous enough to leave some of them for the other five Smashers in the room.

"Think of-a Luigi trying to use-a what appears to be the Raptor Boost or-a Kirby trying to imitate Mister Game & Watch-a," Mario clarified. "Once the fight's-a finished, I may ask-a Master Hand to figure out what's-a changed in the portal system."

"Yoshi understand better." As the jolly dinosaur observed the action on-screen, he noticed Kirby executing Mister Game & Watch's manhole technique. The actual lid itself was absent, strangely enough, but that only served to shock Luigi as he approached the trap with a backhanded fist. Now catapulted into the air, he was subjected to a duo of biting frenzies from a monochrome snapping turtle straight out of the Flat Zone, though the creature itself was hardly visible due to its position relative to Kirby. He was away from the central platform in seconds, and when the Green Missile was brought into his recovery game, he inadvertently tore through the puffball's imitation of the flat man's key attack and helplessly fell to his temporary doom. On the way down, the younger plumber tried to inch his way to the floating Barrel Cannon by the rainbow. Even as the wooden device approached him, however, his poor air speed proved to be a thorn in his side. He was simply not fast enough in the air to reach the one chance of preserving his first stock.

 _BOOM!_

"And Luigi suffers his first KO!" Master Hand announced. On the TV's screen, his figure was nowhere to be witnessed. "This battle looks like it's going to be a close one, but will either fighter prove the audiences wrong?"

"Well, seeing as though both fighters are screwed up by the portal system," Falco chirped bluntly, "I guess we can expect to see crazy shit that will probably swing the fight in either direction. But that's just my opinion."

"Considering that Game & Watch got blasted by Falcon during the last tournament, however," Fox sighed, "I'd say that my bet goes to Luigi winning the fight. No offensive to the thin guy, but Falcon simply had the edge in raw speed and power."

As Luigi respawned, he dodged Kirby—whose snapping turtle was brought into play—before throwing him into the air with an uppercut. The following Knee Smash was spot-on, striking the unfortunate puffball with an electrical force strong enough to launch him into the rock that extended from the waterfall. His combo ended abruptly when his mind attempted to execute the Fire Jump Punch.

 _Whoosh…_

"Eh?" Instead of striking Kirby with a flaming uppercut, he soared harmlessly towards the central platform with the long-reaching Falcon Dive, failing to land a solid hit. To ensure that he was not imagining things in his head, he retried the move when the pink Dream Lander was returning to the central platform; his back was turned, a method of preventing the move from being telegraphed to his opponent. Upon execution…

 _Crack-BOOM!_

" _YES-A!_ " Mario's younger brother felt that last word soaring from his mouth like a fly stuck in his throat and finally escaping with an eager attitude after an indeterminable length of time. Furthermore, he yelled it with a close facsimile of the bounty hunter's voice, which all observers outside the stage did not hear. They did, however, witness him clinging to Kirby for a split second before blasting him with a fiery explosion. This scene prompted Mario to wipe his eyes before staring at the replay footage.

"Did I just-a see that correctly?" he questioned confusedly. "He didn't-a pull off that move, right-a?"

"He did," Fox assured. After sipping from his soda can and taking bits of popcorn from the white bowl, he watched Kirby performing Judge in the air while dodging Luigi's two-footed stomp. Interestingly, the puffball froze for a second, only to subsequently produce an attack that did no damage to the younger plumber. The overlooked defender of the Mushroom Kingdom performed Falcon's pendulum kick with surprising speed and power and followed it up with a flip kick of long reach. Both hits left the pummeled Kirby over a log that had been swept up by the rapids and was now hanging over the large drop into the lower blast zone. Knowing that Luigi would try to pursue him if he were to climb up to the top of the central platform the old-fashioned way, the denizen of Dream Land dropped from the ledge and made a successful trip to the hovering Barrel Cannon. This event did not escape unnoticed, for a single camera fed visual footage to all peering eyes, including the commenting Master Hand.

"Kirby's inside the cannon," he announced. "What does he plan to do? He'd better be prepared for one of Luigi's tricks, or he's sure to be sent flying!" Kirby held his breath as the barrel rotated once before traveling beyond the upright position, aiming right at the solitary rock. He was ejected with explosive force, something that nearly reeked of a surprise to Luigi, and the pursuit that followed was briefly staved off by the flat brick normally associated with Mister Game & Watch's frontal attack in the air. The Eternal Understudy could feel a throbbing entity of pain, one that was threatening to slice through the skin, within his large and now-reddened nose.

"Ow," he moaned. His reflexes were barely enough to block an awkward replication of the parachute attack, complete with the puffball somehow summoning the Flat Zone citizen's handy item. By grabbing and throwing him into the ground, Luigi earned the opportunity to nail Kirby with another backhanded fist.

 _WHAM!_

The attack was caught by floating cameras, resulting in differing reactions from all crowds not inside the Smash Mansion. The Dream Landers began to yell numerous phrases of support for the puffball, but the most common variant among was:

"GO, KIRBY! KIR-BY!"

Meanwhile, the Mushroomers cheered with much elation as soon as Luigi landed the most recent blow on Kirby. Their cheers, all of them present earlier in the battle, were louder than before and fueled by the possible prospect of the plumber winning the fight. Back on the stage, Kirby swiftly avoided a one-two kick and even fought back with Judge; on this occasion, a burst of electricity momentarily paralyzed the neglected hero—another unexpected moment, given the previous failure of the move. Luigi tripped the puffball and leaped up to execute the Knee Smash.

 _Tap…_

His aim was off-center—not by a huge margin, but just enough to save Kirby from a brutal electrocution. He felt stubby hands grasp his shirt before juggling him around like a human ball, tossing him upward when the move was finished. Pushed to a defensive strategy, he quickly dodged the key attack borrowed from the denizen of Flat Zone and hastily blocked a frontal smash attack, the flaming torch normally not associated with Kirby, with his shield.

"Poyo?" Kirby chirped, not expecting his opponent to block the attack due to a very short reaction window available. The next attempt at grabbing Luigi failed, allowing Luigi to set up another backhanded fist. It was blocked just in time by the pink Smasher's own shield, though he was pushed back a small distance. The green counterpart to Mario executed his Cyclone again, hoping that the move would work after the profound failure of his last attempt; unexpectedly, he froze for a second or two, an event that soon left him exposed for an easy hit by Kirby's borrowed Judge, which also froze its user. The puffball did not stay immobilized for so long as Luigi, however, and when the sign revealed its number…

 _CRACK!_

"Well, that sucks for Luigi," Falco muttered coolly. His comment almost escaped the ears of those next to him as the younger plumber was helplessly blasted by Judge's dreaded '9' sign, one of the strongest attacks wielded by any Smasher within the organization. A burst of sparks floated over Kirby's body as his foe was launched all the way to the right blast zone, yet the expression on his face was not of satisfaction; in fact, he seemed relatively confused by the fact that he managed to earn the ability to strike the younger Mario Brother with such a powerful blow at all. Outside the Smash Mansion, Mushrooms began yelling in raw anger over their representative's unexpected loss of a stock from a single attack, especially one that was powerful enough to leave even Bowser and Ganondorf screaming in pain. Their chants became far louder and notably more aggressive in pace and character. Conversely, the Dream Landers were initially confused by what their savior just pulled off, but they were quick to replace their initial state with a wave of excitement and joy.

"Oh, this'd better be not another upset against me," Luigi moaned worriedly. Taking a short breather while still on the revival platform, he prepared to leap his way onto one of the top platforms subjected to light winds. The platform's timer soon reached its zero point, leaving him to execute his plan and wait for the puffball to pursue him. At the bottom, Kirby noticed his rival at the top and tried to surprise him with the Final Cutter-Fire hybrid, only to fail when the latter fighter rolled away and got behind the former.

"Poyo." Kirby, in the time required for him to twist his body a full one hundred and eighty degrees, noticed Luigi dropping down onto the wooden floor below, necessitating a pursuit. He tried to knock him down with the key technique, but the would-be victim pulled away at the last second. The Falcon Dive was brought into play for latching onto the pink Smasher, although an unexpected change would shock both duelers. As soon as the plumber started to take off, with Kirby attempting to smack him with a brick…

 _PING!_

"…?" By the end of the attack, Luigi felt a subtle moment of confusion swallow his mind while Kirby spiraled into the upper blast zone as if he were struck by a blazing attack. The most recent move was the source of said confusion; while the previous instance was a near-imitation of the Falcon Dive in both function and outward appearance, this dose of physical power included the infamous Fire Jump Punch at the beginning of the high jump. And since Kirby had sustained noticeable damage from earlier attacks, it was enough for him to be knocked away from the stage. Back inside the common room, the Smashers were stunned by the latest development in the heated battle.

"Wait a minute," Fox muttered, "The first time around, it functioned exactly like the Falcon Dive, but here, it includes that Fire Jump Punch?"

"Pikachu," the Mouse Pokémon, whose face was tinted with confusion, softly responded.

"My guess is that there's a randomizing effect to whatever's causing those two to use attacks outside their normal repertoire," Falco, who was pouring some whiskey into his cup, stated. "And I hope that gets eliminated during future matches. It would be embarrassing for me to have the attacks of, say, Pichu or Yoshi."

"Pika." As Pikachu continued to watch the match, Luigi patiently waited for Kirby to respawn after the puffball unwillingly smacked a camera on the way down. Tension was high within his mind as the final phase of the battle, the one to determine the victor, approached him slowly—a dreaded specter further strengthened by Kirby's reappearance. Both combatants stood still for a few seconds and remained fixated on each other, ignoring Master Hand's loud commentary and the mechanical eyes of each camera. For Kirby, this was his chance to shine and prove that he was not a frail fighter like Pichu or even Mister Game & Watch; he would be the one to dispel the lingering stigma of being a lighter Smasher upon victory. For Luigi, it was his chance to step out of his brother's shadow, overcome the derogatory title of Eternal Understudy, and avoid being bested by upsets in fierce battles. Regardless of motive, this battle was about to show who was the better fighter.

Only one of them would walk away the victor for the day.

"Let's-a go!" Luigi yelped energetically. He and Kirby dashed to the center of the stage, hoping to fool each other into attacking at the point of collision, before the former Smasher rolled away at the last second. Kirby continued with his dash attack and forced the plumber in green to block at the last second; since his opponent failed to drop his shield quickly enough to avoid being harassed, the Dream Land denizen made a successful attempt at striking the unshielded legs.

 _WHAM!_

"Mamma-!" Luigi was pushed sideways while struggling to regain his composure. A red foot stretched out to smack his nose, but a quick jump from the wooden platform allowed him to hammer the puffball with the Knee Smash.

 _SMACK!_

Kirby was still healthy after the blow, so he did not soar far from the central platform, but the pain felt from electrocution was undeniably real and even stabbing in a way. The next few seconds witness the equal collision of attacks from both pink extraterrestrial and underappreciated brother of a famous hero; the more fanciful attacks borrowed from Mister Game & Watch clashed with the swift and strong kicks of Captain Falcon, complete with metallic clanging and brief flashes of green light. Luigi felt his heart race frantically as he fought tooth and nail for the victory, and Kirby felt sweat on his pink body while trying to shatter his foe's defense and preventing his own from being exploited. To break the stalemate, the puffball utilized the flat man's "Fire" attack to back away and lure Luigi into a trap. Unexpectedly, the move functioned more like the Final Cutter—ascending and descending in rapid succession. The green hero, who was about to leap into the air with the Falcon Dive on the assumption that Kirby would simply float back down, was slapped down by the blade and shoved backwards with the shockwave.

"Ow!" he moaned. When he tried to use the Cyclone to escape, his body chose to launch itself with the fiery Falcon Kick. On this occasion, he was spared from spiraling around like he normally would during the Cyclone. Kirby tried to grab him at the right moment, but he reacted too early.

 _CRACK!_

He was nailed in the face with Luigi's flaming foot, pushing him to a hanging log on the clean waterfall. A subsequent flip kick only sent him further away, but a two-dimensional brick was enough to gain some temporary breathing room for him. The collapse of the log into the lower blast zone necessitated a bounce to the floating cannon, with Luigi attempting to pursue his opponent. Only when the puffball was too far away did he retreat to the wooden platform, instead waiting for the next move, offensive or otherwise. This lull in action was immediately noted by all floating cameras.

"Just watch and wait, folks," Master Hand's mighty voice boomed. "Kirby's up to something, and what he's going to do can make the difference between victory and defeat. Will Luigi be able to counter him?" All three audiences stared in anticipation for Kirby's next action, which would soon turn out to be his explosive exit towards the lonely rock to the right. Luigi tried to launch one of his fireballs as a potshot, though his body chose to lock up instead; furthermore, while his left hand illuminated with green flames, no damaging projectile leaped forth to injure the pink Smasher.

"Can't… move…" he grunted. Kirby, who was originally expecting a pursuit, noticed his vulnerability and exploited it with a slight smirk.

 _WHAM!_

The fiery torch sent the plumber into an exposed position for another attack, which came in the form of two flat puffs of air from Kirby's frame-by-frame mouth. Neither gust was enough to cause serious damage, but they were just strong enough to pop the plumber into the air for a few seconds. The puffball was about to land a third attack…

 _CRACK!_

…when Luigi finally recovered and smacked him down with both feet. He teched the ground and rolled behind the plumber but got smacked by a shoulder tackle before he could fight back, and when he finally recovered to continue his assault, his torch attack was blocked by the Italian man's shield. The next event that unraveled was a second set of colliding strikes with neither side gaining the upper hand. Such an event was far from unnoticed by all Smashers in the common room.

"They're sure going all-out on this last stretch of the fight," Peach remarked. "I wonder if this match will end in a stalemate?"

"Maybe," Mario replied. "But I believe-a something's going to give sooner or-a later. This-a stalemate won't-a last forever, y'know."

"Still," Fox added, "It's hard to tell for certain which one will win. But that's the charm of certain battles; they leave you on the edge of your seat when opponents of near-equal power vie for dominance."

"Gotta agree," a whiskey-drinking Falco chirped. As the last minute of the battle approaching its concluding point, Luigi attempted to throw a fireball again, but he soon felt his right hand pull back while it gathered flames around its glowing center; in the process, the rest of his body became entirely immobilized. Kirby, sensing an opportunity to finish the battle, called upon Judge and its potential to inflict massive pain with its most feared number. Just like his rival, the puffball felt his body lock up.

"Poyo," he squeaked, hoping to nail the plumber with a powerful attack that would surely eliminate him from the battle. Tension was high as the moment of revealing whose strike would be unleashed first was slowly approaching its end. Both audiences outside the Smash Mansion cheered in their most vigorous emotional states possible, and the Smashers inside the common room leaned forward to avoid missing the final blow. Even the fighters themselves were not spared, with each one anticipating his blow to strike first. Luigi, who was in the process of performing the powerful Falcon Punch, slowly announced the attack with his distinct Italian accent.

"Falcon…"

"Poyo." Kirby maintained a small smirk as he waited for the '9' to appear, but his luck was about to become sour.

 _Beep…_

"…?!" The sign merely revealed a '1', the least powerful number of them all. Luigi only felt a minor bop to his stomach, which failed to halt his attack as intended.

 _BOOOOOM!_

"PUNCH-A!" Green flames in the shape of a falcon launched the still-frozen Kirby into the right blast zone, officially eliminating him from the battle. Master Hand and the Mushroomers immediately descended into a state of raw excitement upon witnessing the green fighter's victory, an undeniable opposite to the anger that swallowed the crowd in Dream Land. All six Smashers inside the common room remained motionless as they came to be shocked by Luigi's successful execution of the Falcon Punch.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" the commentator bellowed. "Luigi's won his first match of the tournament! This could be the start of his trail to victory!" Luigi himself ignored the remarks as he was teleported back to the Smash Mansion and left with the option of displaying good sportsmanship to the defeated puffball, who returned to the mansion simultaneously with him.

"Hey, good-a match." The two Smashers shook hands and displayed no signs of antipathy whatsoever. Despite his loss, Kirby remained friendly towards his victorious opponent and, after shaking hands, left to rest until his next battle.

* * *

 _ **At the Scarlet Devil Mansion…**_

 **Patchouli:** _ **It won't be long now. His resurrection is almost complete…**_

 **Remilia:** _ **Ah, I can already see life returning to his face.**_ ***waits until the ritual is completed***

 **Ugh… What's going on? And why do I feel like I'm nude?**

 **Remilia: Dear sir, your resurrection is complete. Your corpse was salvaged by an associate of yours when Patchouli accidently fried you with one of her spells. And don't mind Flan's blanket; it's just there to shield your nude form.**

 **Yeah, but I need some clothes before I can… Wait a minute, how did you manage to resurrect me anyway? *notices Yuyuko Saigyouji to the left* And who is she?**

 **Remilia: That's Saigyouji Yuyuko. Her ability to manipulate life and death was handy in restoring your mortal form.**

 **Yuyuko: Kon'nichiwa! *offers a bowl of miso soup with chopsticks***

 **Um, thank you. *takes bowl and turns attention to Remilia* Once I'm done eating, Remilia, I'm going out to kick Johan's ass. Trust me; he needs to pay for what he did.**

 **Remilia: Perhaps I could manipulate his fate so that he falls into your grasp…**


	3. A Challenge from an Unknown Observer

A Challenge from an Unknown Observer

* * *

 _After the battle between Kirby and Luigi…_

"Y'know," Mario sighed to his younger brother, "That was-a quite a tense battle. I was-a worried that you wouldn't get accustomed to Falcon's moves before Kirby could get-a used to Mister Game & Watch's." The brothers were sitting in the common room where an earlier group of six had observed the intense action of the previous match.

"It was-a scary," Luigi replied honestly, "But I'm-a glad to have gotten a strong-a start in this tournament." His mouth was chewing into a granola bar between sentences, experiencing the honey-flavored goodness of a great snack, however small it was. "Say, how's-a Master Hand going to handle the portal system?"

"I've just-a called him over to the room, and he's-a working on the problem right-a now; it shouldn't-a take him long. Personally, I'd-a rather not deal with a tournament that can swap-a movesets at random and even hybridize them, and I don't-a think you'd want that as well."

"Certainly not. Are you-a going to watch the battle between Mewtwo and-a Ganondorf?" Luigi gripped his green cup on the table in front of him and sipped from a small pool of orange juice. He was already thirsty and needed something that could replenish him in both mind and body before his next battle.

"I'd-a love to, but I need to practice for my match against-a Marth." The older brother exited the room for the dojo, leaving Luigi in relative solitude. The cool air from the air vent above him cooled his heated skin, which was still recovering from the intense battle with the pink puffball. His eyes were initially focused on the countdown for the next match, a power struggle between two of the strongest Smashers in existence, but they soon shifted to the exit when his mind gathered a desire to retrieve something from its owner's personal cabinet of food. In fact, Luigi wanted something more than a mere granola bar, a better method of satiating his hunger. Knowing that there were still fifteen minutes before the match's beginning, he exited the common room and traveled to his bedroom, experiencing mild rays of sunlight shining down on the mansion's floors and on him. The smaller size of the building made it less tedious to travel compared to its later incarnation, but this detail would be the least of his worries when he noticed a note on his door. The black ink contrasting against a white background presented an erratic writing style, barely legible and with inconsistent capitalization, and read like this:

 _HiyA LuiGi!_

 _I just sAw youR victory ON TV and nOticed that CaptAin FalcON's MOVEs servEd you beTTer than did Game & WATCH's to KirBY. YA lOOK like the Kind of GUY who COUld BLAZE through the tournament WiTh no problem, unlike LAST tIME, so I WANT to gIvE ya a challenge. Ya KNOW the First part of the COMpetition has a Round-ROBIN setup, correct? Well, YA must cast Your VoTe on who WILL be winning the matches; GUEss correctly and yA earn three PoINts, gueSS wrong and YA get nothing, and IF your guy wins ON a rematch following a Stalemate, ya gET one Point. If YA get one hundred aNd fifty POINTS, I'm gonna FIX the system. OTHERwise, you and YoUR pals will bE stuck wiTH warped MATches forever! Leave yOur votes in the Mail box room ON the second floor and ASK Master HanD for his LISt of future MatchES._

"Huh, it's not-a signed," sighed the plumber. "I should-a show it to Master Hand." And with all due haste, he entered the portal room and immediately found Master Hand, who was failing to fix the problem within his portals.

"Damn…" he grumbled. "Nothing's wrong with the mechanical components at all, and whatever magic is lurking around can't be removed. But I cannot delay the competition now; it's only a few minutes before the next fight."

"Master Hand? Can I talk to you about-a something?"

"What is it, Luigi? I'm busy with trying to fix the portal system now." The commentator slammed the rear panel of the control console shut as he failed to pinpoint the source of bizarre movesets.

"I've-a found this note posted on my door; whoever wrote wants-a me to cast my votes on who will win the next-a couple of matches. It was-a most likely written by someone who has-a rigged the portal system, given what he wrote-a near the end of his-a note." He presented the note to his leader, who quickly felt a muted but undeniable sense of dread coursing through his white fingers. Someone was manipulating the competition, perhaps to satisfy his twisted joys or something even worse, and the fact that Luigi's failure to complete the challenge could spell the end of ordinary matches was a chilling prospect that was best avoided. On top of everything else, there was no way of telling who the perpetrator was or if there were any clues capable of leading to wherever he was hiding. Perhaps Luigi _was_ the only person now who could help in solving the mystery behind the altered portals, notwithstanding his lack of popularity relative to other Smashers or his abysmal standing in the previous tournament.

"This is seriously concerning. Whoever is responsible for this mess needs to face punishment for his twisted act. Until then, you must get enough points to bring us a step closer to resolving our situation. We cannot afford to let all tournaments after this one be wracked with randomizing effects to movesets. The mail box room will be open for use throughout the event, so make good use of it… and do your best to guess correctly. It may seem like an impossible task, given the random effects of the portal system, but I know you can succeed. Also, you may use the list of future fights in my office."

"I'm-a still a bit nervous…" Luigi kept his final words to a low volume, leaving his commander unable to hear them. After returning to his room, he retrieved a cup of ramen noodles from a cabinet next to the closet before reaching for a notebook and a blue pen on his desk. Setting aside the fact that the portals would soon swap more movesets, he then contemplated about choosing the fighter that was more likely to win the next fight. Mewtwo was an enormously powerful fighter, even if it was far from a natural species of Pokémon, and it had the attacks necessary to dominate theoretically dominate most Smash battles. Its psychic powers were not to be taken lightly and many opponents who behaved otherwise were known to face severe consequences. But its latest opponent, Ganondorf, was also a powerful figure. Having the Triforce of Power under his nonexistent belt, he was equipped with already-powerful magic designed to annihilate those who dared to oppose him, and while his full potential was restrained by the rules of the Smash Brothers, he was still a dangerous foe to be reckoned with. The fact that his dark powers could outright eviscerate Mewtwo's own abilities could grant him an edge in the fight. After a minute of sitting still, he finally came to a decision.

"I'm-a going with Ganondorf on this-a one." After writing the evil Gerudo's name on the paper, he cast his vote in the mail box room before cooking his ramen noodles in a small microwave. The noodles, submerged in clean water, were hot enough for consumption when they were transported out of the oven and into the common room for the match. The plumber waited for the noodles to soak some heated water while eyeing the timer on the room's TV, which eventually reached its zero point to reveal the start of the next match.

"Now comes our second match for today," was the sound of Master Hand's voice. "Our first competitor is a product of genetic engineering, created by the best scientists in Kanto to create the strongest Pokémon. It shares genes with the adorable Mew, but this creature is anything but. It's fearsome and deadly, and it won't hesitate to rip apart those who dare to challenge its might! Its psychic powers are not to be taken lightly! Give it up for MEEEEEEEEWWWTWO!"

"…" Luigi remained silent as Mewtwo entered the stage, Dream Land, with a cold look on its face. It noticed that its posture strongly resembled that of Jigglypuff, a creature with some resemble to Kirby, barring the distorted limbs. It paid no serious mind to its change for long, however, and silently awaited the King of Evil's arrival.

"Now for its challenger. He is the sole male of the Gerudo tribe and wielder of one of the most powerful artifacts in the existence of Hyrule. His mind burns with pure hatred for that world's goddesses and their beloved hero, and after years of confinement, he's ready to unleash his fury! If he wins today, he may even throw down with his archenemy in the elimination rounds! He is someone you don't want to cross! Looks like nothing can hold back… GAAAAAAAANONDOOOORRRF!" The King of Evil entered the stage to face its psychic rival and defeat it, even if his body was awkwardly posed to resemble Marth's normal stance. He was shocked to notice the posture his body but quickly concealed his feelings upon noticing Mewtwo's dark stare.

" _And here we go! LET'S RUMBLE!_ " While the giant hand's words echoed from the speakers, Luigi watched Mewtwo curl into a ball when it tried to utilize Shadow Ball against the approaching Ganondorf. A dark aura surrounded its body during the charging process, rivaling that of the Gerudo's bulky sword; said object was attempting to perform Marth's overhead Shield Breaker in the air. The Pokémon dodged the incoming strike with ease and even smacked its enemy into the air with an altered version of Jigglypuff's Pound, sending Ganondorf on a spiraling path behind it. But the Gerudo would not be so easy to launch, and his sword even struck Mewtwo with the first two hits of the Altean monarch's Dancing Blade. Pain echoed throughout the creature's body as dark flames unrelentingly tore through its otherwise-strong defense.

"We're already off to a fierce start, folks," Master Hand announced. "They're vying for victory, but who will be the one to triumph?" Luigi slurped a few noodles from his bowl as his sharp eyes observed Mewtwo getting smacked away like a worthless fly by a combination of the Dolphin Slash and Ganondorf's own Dark Dive, complete with slashing after the grab and an explosion of pure electricity. The giant warlock smirked as he reached forward to clobber his opponent's face with the flat side of his bulky sword in a facsimile of a sword swing attributed to Marth, but cold steel would smack a glowing shield in the second allotted for the artificial creature's reaction.

 _CLANG!_

"An unwise move," it hissed, though its words were not transmitted to Luigi via the TV. Its mind, unhampered by the change in movesets, captured the Gerudo and launched him in a purely vertical path, presented as a stronger version of Jigglypuff's upward toss. The mightiest Pokémon to hail from Kanto leaped into the air to juggle Ganondorf, only to dodge sideways when he tried to smack it down with his feet and sword, apparently attempting to perform his dreaded and electrically-powered stomp. A Jigglypuff-style hand strike from below struck the recovering villain's shield, and when the attacker tried the move again, it was hammered at the jaw by the sword's rounded tip. Several more blows, including a counterattack mixed with the Wizard's Foot when the soaring warlock parried an incoming attack, knocked the unfortunate psychic to the right edge of the stage.

"Now's a good-a time to land that finishing blow," Luigi remarked, still slurping from his cup of ramen. On the contrary, the hoped-for strike to remove a stock from Mewtwo's pile never experienced fruition; instead, Ganondorf missed his mark while rapidly descending with his hybridized Wizard's Foot. His actions in recovering slammed into a figurative brick wall after Mewtwo's Disable, mixed with Jigglypuff's deceptively dangerous Rest, had ripped through his bulky body and removed a stock from him.

"Ganondorf's bid to eliminate his foe has backfired spectacularly!" Master Hand yelled ecstatically. "Mewtwo's latest attack just pounded tons of force into him for a KO! Oh, but our Genetic Pokémon seems to have fallen asleep now!" Indeed, the side effect of Jigglypuff's Rest was already visible, with Mewtwo having closed its eyes and resting by the wind-producing Whispy Woods. Its body was gently pushed down to the ground, a gentle landing without harm. In any other situation involving danger, it would have been a respite from pain, but the fact that the respawning Ganondorf was close and now hellbent on exacting revenge only placed it in a position of extreme danger. Such could not be any closer to the truth when the darkness-fueled Shield Breaker created a large explosion to instantly send Mewtwo soaring into the upper blast line. The anti-gravity effect of the Pokémon's strong mind exacerbated the speed at which the loss of stock occurred, swallowing whatever benefit the creature's high mass possessed. Luigi felt a minor tide of relief over him while watching Ganondorf's latest stunt.

"And for a second, I thought-a he was gonna lose," he sighed. The last of his ramen noodles entered his mouth as Mewtwo returned to assail its foe with its arsenal. Attacks collided with each other at a fast rate, shields were blocking blows, and when it seemed that one side was about to gain the upper hand, a reversal would drop in to even the odds. As an example, Ganondorf's aerial blows with the heavy blade committed noticeable harm to the psychic entity, but on the blow that was to finish his combo, the King of Evil was blown away by Rest, albeit not as greatly like last time and without Mewtwo falling asleep afterwards. A burst of Pound and an electrical kick in Jigglypuff's style left him slightly worse for wear, and it was only thanks to his precise timing of Dancing Blade's first two hits that he even managed to escape an otherwise-unavoidable combo.

"I will crush you like the bug that you are," he snarled, approaching with his blade ready to attack.

"You may try, but it will not be an easy task," his opponent countered. It repeated its first move of the match, and on this occasion, its body did not launch itself into the Gerudo. Its projectile, however, exhibited similar behavior to a fully-charged Rollout from Jigglypuff. Ganondorf sidestepped to avoid damage and pulled himself away when the Pokémon tried to fake him out with a half-complete charge. His own charge with the hybridized Wizard's Foot was halted via a telekinetic grab.

"Do not expect me to fall for that move," Mewtwo remarked. Its mind sought to slam the warlock into the ground with its tail, but the Pokémon instead found itself flattening its foe like a steamroller in true Jigglypuff fashion. Luigi nearly chuckled at the sight of this awkward move.

"It's-a quite hilarious to see Mewtwo do that," he spoke. His mind felt more tension quietly exit from it during the process of Ganondorf's sword-based combo countering and pushing back potential attacks, even with a large gust from Whispy Woods working against his efforts. A powerful slapping throw from the psychic Pokémon could do so little to hinder him.

 _CRACK!_

The loud noises of symphonic pain inflicted on Mewtwo brought a wide grin on his face, pleased to torment a Pokémon who had the power to, like Link and other strong heroes, oppose him and weaken his ability to wreak havoc. Such was his thirst for sadism that he was close to chuckling sinisterly when his opponent was past the left side of the platform.

"Overconfidence will cost you dearly," Mewtwo snarled. Its body teleported with a strange aura connected to Jigglypuff's Sing, which induced mild drowsiness upon the descending warlock. At the point where he recovered to face the mutated clone again, he was close to collapsing from tiredness. Twisted joy transformed into dark concern, something not ignored despite decreasing levels of awareness. His dark-skinned face soon uncontrollably buried itself into the ground, the rounded tip of his sword slamming into the nearly grass. For a second or two, his world was totally black.

 _BOOM!_

Dark energy from Mewtwo's unintended spilt kick was his rudest wake-up call during the match, blowing him into the air and past the leftmost representative of floating platforms above the main stage. He barely held onto his sword while struggling to regain his composure against the approaching Mewtwo, but his woes would only worsen when his opponent curled into a ball and launched itself into his abdomen.

 _WHAM!_

Wind was forced from his mouth upon impact despite some protection with his armor. He was forced to rely on his quasi-counterattack in the altered Wizard's Foot so that Mewtwo would not assail him further. An incoming Pound with telekinetic properties was barely blocked in a second, and this was all the King of Evil needed to grab his approaching foe and toss it over the side of the stage with one of Marth's throws.

"I hate to say it, but take it out-a, Ganon," Luigi sighed, expressing discomfort at the mere thought of having to give support to a well-known villain with ambitions to conquer his world. To worsen his feelings, it was likely too late to change his vote in favor of the Genetic Pokémon, a creature with a more altruistic aura. Nevertheless, he waited for the Gerudo to land his intended blow…

 _BLAM!_

…and watched Mewtwo rapidly descend with pain and electricity tearing through its form. Temporarily ignoring Master Hand's coinciding announcement for the time being, the younger plumber exited the common room temporarily to retrieve a can of soda from his personal refrigerator. His round trip to bedroom and back was less than a minute, marked by him grabbing a red can of cherry-flavored goodness of the carbonated type, but the time elapsed was enough for Ganondorf to lose his second stock. Master Hand's latest words revealed the unseen cause.

"Ganondorf was sent too far away by Mewtwo's swiping attack to recover! Even with his best efforts, he has lost a stock and is now on even ground with his psychic opponent! It's time to watch this final stretch of the battle; who will win?!" Luigi chugged his soda down as raw anticipation flooded his mind during the final struggle between menacing Pokémon and malicious warlock. Grabs were amok, with each fighter utilizing them to send the other reeling for the finishing blow, the one to determine the winner. Special moves also witnessed the peak of their usage as they were thrown out at a greater rate than normal, hybridized per the movesets of both their original and current users. Mewtwo launched its foe into the air with the Pound-Confusion mixture but could not perform a follow-up before its head received the full brunt of the Gerudo's bulky blade. Ganondorf himself popped the Pokémon into the air with his right leg and pulled off a two-hitter with sword and limb, but he was abruptly halted when his stomach sustained a Rollout at full power and with intense darkness surrounding Mewtwo's body. His back was flattened by the strange, downward-facing throw associated with the pink and jolly Jigglypuff before receiving a fierce kick at the same spot, worsening his pain. He swung his sword in desperation, only to have the tip barely graze Mewtwo's skin.

"Did you think that could harm me, foolish one?" the Pokémon sneered bitterly. "Your desperation is starting to show itself." Its telekinetic powers, strong as they ever were, hoisted the unlucky warlock into the air before blasting him with a kick powered by dark flames. Ganondorf was forced to evade a tail whip at the cost of a perfect opportunity to strike back. He was grabbed again, but with quick reflexes, he broke free from Mewtwo's grasp and hammered its shield with his sword. The blow was powerful enough to separate the two fighters from each other, forcing Mewtwo to respond with another Rollout.

 _BLAM!_

It was instantly countered by the bulky sword, this time without the influence of the Wizard's Foot. While its chest swelled with heated pain, Mewtwo dodged with its psychic prowess, but Ganondorf correctly predicted its move and lashed out with all four default strikes of the Dancing Blade, barring the replacement of the last swing with the vicious Gerudo Dragon.

"You're mine now, worm," he hissed malevolently. His target was low and far away from the right edge of the stage such that it was going to have a difficult time in recovering, predictably, even with its superb methods of reaching the stage. He, however, miscalculated the Pokémon's altitude while it was hurriedly teleporting to safety, striking too early and falling past it. The Dolphin Slash extended his time in the air, though it failed to escort him all the way to the ledge, and because he possessed a higher falling speed than the floatier Mewtwo, he was now at risk of losing the match. Luigi, witnessing the latest development, bit his upper lip as he waited in tension for the match to reveal its winner.

"Wait-a for it…" He watched the Gerudo fall faster due to his more compacted posture, enough to where the two fighters were almost at the same height when they fell out of the camera's view. Then…

 _B-BOOM!_

"Woah, the two fighters fell out of the stage near-simultaneously!" Master Hand cheerfully announced. "There's no way to tell who fell first without a look at some replay footage!" On cue, a slowed-down replay of the two Smashers losing their last stocks zipped onto the right side of the television screen. The action was depicted on a frame-by-frame basis to better determine the victor based on the time of each fighter's elimination. The green plumber held his breath as the video inched closer to the true result…

"And it looks like… Woah, Ganondorf was eliminated just a few frames AFTER his foe! Looks like he takes the victory for this spectacular battle!" Master Hand's booming voice relieved Luigi of tension after confirming that he made the right choice during the short voting session.

"That was a close one," the plumber sighed. Sipping from the last of his cherry-flavored beverage, he returned to the commentator's office for information on the incoming matches, disposing of his aluminum can in one of the Smash Mansion's few recycling bins along the way. After retrieving the list of future matches from the wooden desk, he examined how the tournament was structured, assuming the following format by order of success in the previous tournament:

 _A-BLOCK:_

 _Falco_

 _Captain Falcon_

 _Marth_

 _Fox_

 _Mario_

 _B-BLOCK:_

 _Pikachu_

 _Dr. Mario_

 _Samus_

 _Jigglypuff_

 _Peach_

 _C-BLOCK:_

 _Mewtwo_

 _DK_

 _Ganondorf_

 _Link_

 _Roy_

 _D-BLOCK:_

 _Mr. Game & Watch_

 _Luigi_

 _Ice Climbers_

 _Young Link_

 _Kirby_

 _E-BLOCK:_

 _Yoshi_

 _Ness_

 _Bowser_

 _Zelda_

 _Pichu_

He also noticed the next few matches from the most recent one onward:

 _Pichu vs. Yoshi_

 _Fox vs. Falcon_

 _DK vs. Roy_

 _Marth vs. Mario_

 _Ice Climbers vs. Young Link_

 _Zelda vs. Bowser_

He wasted no time in removing a sheet of paper from a drawer alongside a black pen, jotting down his choices for the next few battles to come. Bringing his sheet into the mail room, he placed it inside the small box marked with the word 'MAIL', but his eyes also caught the sight of a note written in the same erratic style as the one on his door. Placed next to the box, it read:

 _GrEAt JOB, LuIgI! Keep IT up!_

"…" The plumber remained mute as he carried the note to his room, waiting for the next match to start. He was tense over the belief of not gaining enough points to solve the current situation, but hope still lingered in his mind…

* * *

 **Tournament's going into full swing, folks. From this chapter onward, there will be a list detailing each fighter's record during the story so that I have an easier time keeping track of who went against whom and so that you, the readers, have an easier time following the story.**

 _ **Records:**_

 _ **Luigi: 1 win (Kirby), 0 stalemate wins, 0 losses**_

 _ **Kirby: 0 wins, 0 stalemate wins, 1 loss (Luigi)**_

 _ **Ganondorf: 1 win (Mewtwo), 0 stalemate wins, 0 losses**_

 _ **Mewtwo: 0 wins, 0 stalemate wins**_ _ **, 1 loss (Ganondorf)**_

 **R &R, everyone, and have a nice day.**


	4. More Matches, More Chaos

More Matches, More Chaos

* * *

 **Let's get back to the chaos in this story's tournament as more movesets get hybridized and swapped. Will Luigi gather enough points to keep a stable path in exposing the culprit? Or is he doomed to fail?**

* * *

 _1:25 PM, five minutes before the battle between Pichu and Yoshi…_

Luigi remained silent as he obtained a cherry-flavored soda from the kitchen. Having selected his predicted victors for the next batch of matches, his mind was patiently waiting for fate to take over as he strolled back to the common room. The remote on the couch was helpful for increasing the volume by a slight amount so that the plumber could hear Master Hand's announcement after a waiting period.

"In this match," the commentator announced five minutes later, "We have a fracas between two cuddly creatures that, believe it or not, pack a surprising punch in their attacks. Underestimate them, folks, and they just might have a bit of blood on their hands! For our first fighter, it is the pre-evolution of the popular Pokémon that we all know as Pikachu; it struggles to avoid delivering recoil damage to itself, but its attacks are more powerful than you might expect! It's fast, light, and ready to smack its foe down! Give it up for PIIIIICHUUUUU!"

Luigi watched Pichu enter a simulated stage of Princess Peach's residence with a stance that resembled Fox's in a general view. The smaller rodent who could harvest electricity also appeared to be floating from the brick-based ground, but this was barely visible with the camera's angle.

"For its challenger, he is a dinosaur with a bottomless stomach and may trap you in an egg if you're not careful. His kind has traveled many miles and defeated many tough foes in the past, and he has a strong back that can carry even the heaviest of objects! He is one tough cookie! Start clapping for YOOOOOOOSHIIIIIII!"

"Here he comes-a…" Luigi sighed to himself. One of his longtime friends, the dinosaur with green skin, appeared on his side of the stage. While seemingly normal at first glance, Yoshi was utilizing Falco's stance and standing more upright; he also assumed a more energetic aura around his body.

"Let's get down to business! _FIGHT!_ " Master Hand's voice resonated with power as Luigi felt carbonated sweetness slide down his throat. Yoshi earned the first blow by unintentionally firing a blaster shot from his mouth when he tried to swallow the tiny Pichu. His mind immediately became bewildered at such a sight, though confusion was quickly dispelled as the dinosaur launched another shot. Pichu tapped into its natural agility to evade and even responded with shots of its own. Its projectiles were absurdly swift and dealt rapid damage in exchange for not forcing Yoshi to flinch or be disrupted otherwise. The Egg Roll was carried into play before being influenced by the rapid speed of the Falco Phantasm.

 _Bang!_

Despite its blinding speed, it was quickly blocked by Pichu's disproportionally large shield. Likewise, Pichu's Skull Bash inherited the properties of the Fox Illusion, although the Pokémon momentarily froze before its body could launch like a fur-coated rocket. Hybridized and borrowed moves collided to the point of creating a stalemate until Yoshi activated the energy associated with Falco's reflector during the attempt to perform a long-reaching ground pound. Pichu utilized its own reflector to counter the dinosaur's following a leap…

 _ZAP!_

The dinosaur was slightly faster in this respect, zapping his foe and allowing him to perform a short combo on it—utilizing Falco's acrobatic maneuvers and strange hybridizations—while being wary of counterattacks. He gradually pushed the Pokémon to the top of the stage and was about to remove a stock from its supply through a flipping kick, but he was suddenly smacked into the air with the combination of Agility and Fire Fox. He tried to utilize the Phantasm again to escape; this effort failed after he sustained a kick to the back.

"Yoshi going to win!" he exclaimed. He barely avoided a grab from the small Pokémon before retaliating with a grab of his own. The red tongue wrapped around yellow fur and introduced it to the hidden row of teeth that delivered a hard chomping to the smaller fighter.

 _WHOOSH!_

A subsequent throw forced Yoshi to spew two blue lasers from his mouth. The electricity dealt minimal damage to the Electric-type Pichu, which mattered little to him. Falco's helicopter-style kicks followed by a headbutt were more than enough to swat the lighter creature away and set it up for a finishing blow. The Fire Fox, with its flames replaced by pure electricity, would have allowed Pichu to land on the rightmost part of the stage. Alas, this was not the case, for Yoshi's splitting kick combined with recoil from the third jump to toss the unfortunate cousin of Pikachu away from safety and into one of the blast lines.

"No disrespect-a to Pichu, but I think-a Yoshi will win this one," Luigi muttered under his breath. Having depleted the contents of his soda can, he returned to the kitchen to get another drink, unaware that Pichu started to assail Yoshi viciously when it respawned. The dinosaur countered with several of Fox's attacks, albeit just barely, and it did not help when—following a recovery with Fire Bird and its merger with a spotted egg—his landing was harshly interrupted by a pair of tiny feet that clobbered him with surprising force.

 _WHAM!_

The jolly inhabitant of Yoshi's Island felt serious pain in his nose in the aftermath of colliding into the ground face-first. Even worse, his legs were too slow to carry him away to safety just as Pichu drilled into his stomach with a spinning headbutt, complete with slight cutting effects. His shield—held up lightly to stop the dinosaur from overexerting himself—did little to protect him from a soaring kick to the face; in fact, for some bizarre reason, he and his egg suddenly careened all the way to the left side of the stage from the top of the castle, placing him in a terrible position. He would have lost a stock at this point…

 _Blink!_

…until he activated a hybrid of his ground pound and Falco's reflector when he was above the edge. This caught Pichu off-guard and hurled it sideways into the waters below. Even its recovery moves could not save from losing another stock. Luigi, expecting a relatively one-sided match despite the current events of this tournament, would have descended into a state of light sleepiness, except that he had to keep track of the points accumulated during the event and stay sharp for his own matches—including his second one for today. As well, there was his brother's match against Marth, which he wanted to observe. A small pop zipped from his neck as he exercised it, mere seconds before Pichu wielded Fox's powerful vertical kick against Yoshi, with the dinosaur being stuck in the air after a tail whip to the nose. Master Hand was quick to announce his grand statement as Pichu's opponent soared into the distant hills.

"And Pichu has finally achieved a point on its end!" he bellowed. "But will it be enough to start the road to a surprising comeback? Keep your eyes on the screen, folks, because you never know when things might change dramatically!"

"Maybe not for this-a battle," the younger brother sighed, keeping Pichu's abysmal fighting history in mind. The tiny rodent kept Yoshi in the air for a handful of seconds with Fox's aerial moves—some hybridized and some pure—until its head was pounded by a surprise kick from the green Smasher's right foot. Gathering its composure, Pichu raised its shield in response to an incoming headbutt but could not grab its foe since he was descending too quickly near the side of a floating platform to be grabbed. A sidestep was necessary to avoid a quick tail whip from below.

"Pi…!" Angered by its failure to grab, Pichu reached down to trick Yoshi into attacking it while plotting to grab him from behind. The grab was successful after Yoshi had tried to perform a drilling attack with his head, but when he was thrown into the central tower…

 _Tap-whoosh…_

…his feet teched the wall and absorbed all knockback, letting him counterattack faster than Pichu could throw up its shield. Lasers were fired from both sides, though Yoshi's were more effective at halting approaches, with or without leaping into the air. Even so, Pichu managed to rack up some damage with its faster rate of fire. The shooting continued for a minute, ending when Pichu sprinted all over the area to confuse Yoshi. The dinosaur tried to fight back and knock the Pokémon away, but he was grabbed and thrown into an area above the waters. He only escaped by a sudden dodge that nullified an incoming meteor smash and even provided an opportunity to counter Pichu's recovery. His tongue reached out to snatch the disadvantaged creature and smash it into the ground. He finally launched it away with Falco's extended slam-chop.

"It's over," Luigi noted with relief in his voice. Having voted for Yoshi in Master Hand's office, he was relieved to know that his correct choice had granted another three points to fix the portal system and allow for normal tourneys once again. He stood up to leave the common room and use his personal lavatory so that his body could relieve itself of liquid wastes. Along the way, he witnessed Pichu as it sobbed from yet another loss while retreating to its room; Yoshi, who was emerging from the opposite side of the hall, expressed a dumbfounded look due to his opponent's reaction to the loss.

"Are you okay, Yoshi?" the man in green asked.

"Yoshi wanted to give handshake to Pichu," his friend replied. "But Pichu ran away and cried…"

"Just-a give some time by itself-a. Maybe it'll show some good-a sportsmanship later." He entered his room for the lavatory, locking both rooms to ensure total privacy.

* * *

 _2:00 PM…_

"Welcome back, everyone," the floating hand stated, "We are continuing our event with a high-octane between two of the fastest competitors in Smash history. Even outside their vehicles, they can simply blind you with their swiftness if you don't pay attention! For our first fighter, he is the leader of Team Star Fox, mercenaries-for-hire who have taken down a wicked scientist twice and defended Corneria. His piloting skills are undeniable and something that should never be underestimated. He's a high-flying pilot and an armed threat in the field! Give it up for FOX MCCLOUD!"

Luigi watched the Arwing pilot enter a simulation of Termina's Great Bay to face his opponent. Of the swaps so far, Fox received one of the more embarrassing choices, being cursed with Bowser's slouching stance and moves that were sluggish and awkward for someone of his size. The plumber nearly snickered at this amusing sight, unaware of Kirby's entrance from behind.

"Poyo," the puffball greeted.

"Hi, Kirby." Luigi shoved himself to the left side of the couch so that Kirby could have some room. "Fox looks-a quite goofy now, eh?"

"Po-poyo." The puffball nearly cracked a wide smile after noticing the Arwing pilot's posture. Meanwhile, Master Hand began his introduction for the second fighter of the upcoming match.

"For our second fighter, his past remains shrouded in shadow, but his skill as an F-Zero pilot are clear as day. He has won many races in his day, packs much raw power behind his attacks, and is the one and only master of the dangerous Falcon Punch! He is a household name in his universe! He's the mighty CAPTAIN FALCON!" Captain Falcon appeared on the giant turtle's shell by the right side of the stage, far away from Fox's position. Aesthetically, the stoic bounty hunter only had subtle changes to his posture; these few alterations reminded the plumber and the puffball of the stance of Ganondorf, the dreaded warlock from a harsh desert. Luigi briefly assumed that there would not be significant changes to Falcon's moveset, given the battle similarities between the heroic racer and the evil wizard. And that was despite the two men hailing from entirely different worlds.

"Let's get ready to _FIGHT!_ " For the most part, the two fighters were far more sluggish than they usually were, though Falcon was visibly faster. As an insult to the Arwing pilot, his attacks felt and looked delayed beyond belief, a glaring example of the Koopa King's poor speed relatively to nearly everyone else. Falcon quickly gained the upper hand by exploiting Ganondorf's powerful and surprisingly fast attacks, especially with electrically charged palm strikes that juggled Fox repeatedly. Fox was not entirely defenseless, however. His new attacks were strong enough to inflict pain of the F-Zero racer, and all four of his throws allowed him to perform possible combo extensions; while tossing Falcon upwards, he swatted his head with enough force and speed to leave the opponent exposed for another attack. Nevertheless, Falcon kicked downwards and delivered a serious jolt of electricity to the slower mercenary, who barely teched the move. Fox swatted with what would have been claw swipes from Bowser's moveset, many of which were blocked by Falcon's shield. An attempt to grab the reclusive bounty hunter failed when he rolled away and leaped to the smaller steel platform at the stage's center. At this point, the giant turtle on the right side began to sink into the water, forcing Fox to rely on the Whirling Fortress to recover.

 _WHAM!_

This move was easily halted by the Wizard's Foot, albeit with orange flames associated with the Falcon Kick. As the water in this match did not grant buoyancy to fighters, the vulpine pilot was doomed to lose his first stock early on.

"And Fox has already lost his first stock within the first minute!" Master Hand boomed. "It looks like Falcon's getting a huge advantage in this match!" The minutes that passed from existence were marked by Fox's sluggish and often goofy-looking attempts to attack Falcon. Unlike other fighters so far, the Lylatian fighter failed to receive a modicum of hybridization for anything aside from most of his special moves, and even those were not terribly effective. The mixture of Bowser's fire breath with lasers from his blaster froze him more than once despite occasionally slowing Falcon down, the Koopa Klaw with the Fox Illusion held the bounty hunter down for two seconds but was quickly defeated by an escape, and the Bowser Bomb was hindered by a delayed startup due to the activation of Fox's reflector at the start. Only once did Fox eliminate Falcon from the stage, and that was after the racer had already been battered from grabs and claw swipes. An emulation of Bowser thrusting out the spikes on his shell was enough to remove a stock.

However, Falcon was simply much faster at attacking and, notwithstanding the changes to his speed, could still outmaneuver Fox when necessary. The hybridization of the Dark and Falcon Dives was especially damaging to the unlucky mercenary thanks to the combination of shocking jolts and explosive flames, which only added on to his physical woes. During this times, Luigi and Kirby found themselves chuckling at some of Fox's more embarrassing moves.

"What is with that-a swatting?" the plumber noted, barely restraining a laugh in the process. "It looks-a so embarrassing!"

"Poyo," the puffball agreed. Fox was soon battered off the stage when Falcon executed a swinging punch with the raw power of the shocking Knee Smash. The last minute of the battle consisted of Fox's attempts at trying to pummel Falcon by all means possible, and although some moves inflicted enough damage to drag the racer into dangerous territory, this strategy was slated to fail by a fast combo that concluded with a devastating hybrid of the Falcon and Warlock Punches. Dark flames in the shape of a falcon eliminated the vulpine pilot in seconds. Luigi kept laughing for the next couple of seconds but froze upon remembering that Fox, his chosen fighter due to the commando's highly impressive record in the last tournament, had lost the fight. Whatever kind of humor he experienced earlier soon faded away.

* * *

 _2:30 PM, at the start of the match between Roy and DK…_

"That must-a be embarrassing to Fox," Luigi sighed under his breath. At his request, he was given the footage of the latest match by Master Hand in a small camcorder. The choppy motions and ridiculous posture exhibited by the furry commando sparked subtle laughter from the plumber; one of the goofiest moments was in the form of Bowser's charging slam, which animated Fox's body in an awkward fashion and gave Falcon the chance to counterattack. The Bowser Bomb, mixed with a reflector, also provided a solid number of chuckles. When Luigi ended the footage, however, the fight between the leader of the Kongs and the Young Lion had already initiated.

"What's-a next?" Sitting alone, he realized that Roy's fighting style more closely resembled Link's, which contrasted DK's adoption of Pikachu's moveset. While the redhead stood on the ground like normal, the ape's legs clipped into the ground of Brinstar's main platform.

"I won't lose!" Roy proclaimed. Despite his deep concern about the potential changes to his style of fighting, he charged towards the electrified DK with unrivaled vigor. Both characters blocked and exchanged blows like there was no tomorrow, but the mighty Kong soon earned the upper hand by repeatedly slamming the young swordsman into the air with Pikachu's aerial arsenal. The acid at the bottom of the stage began to rise from the depths, and such a thing was almost exploited by DK.

 _Click… CRACK!_

At the last second, however, Roy activated his counter against the incoming haymaker. The resulting sword swing created an explosion with the force of Link's bombs and shoved his opponent far enough to include an additional strike. Roy's Double-Edge Dance possessed the bizarre effect of creating fiery projectiles in the shape of boomerangs, especially on the final stabbing blows. By this point, the acid was high enough to where both fighters had to flee to the upper platforms, but DK—possessing Pikachu's quick speed was notably faster. Roy executed a combination of his own Blazer and Link's whirling slash, which the ape avoided by rolling away. The subsequent drilling attack against him forced DK's limbs to stiffen in a strange manner; the first three shocks were blocked, but the last time left a nasty sting when the young swordsman released his shield too early.

The next few minutes of the fight consisted of DK's body clipping into the platforms as he performed the Pokémon's attacks with a streak of goofiness and Roy's attacks being swapped or even hybridized with Link's set, with occasional freezing for both characters. On the final minute, they were down to their last stocks due to their clashing blows and, in one of DK's cases, the launching power of the acid. The ape brought a blot of lightning down when Roy was above him, only to miss at the last second. Roy's attempt at using Flare Blade resulted in a temporary moment of immobility, a mistake which DK exploited by shocking him on the spot. Luigi would have been led to believe that the mighty resident of the jungle was about to the inevitable victor; on the contrary, Roy hoisted his sword up for a counterattack against the incoming Skull Bash, now at full charge.

 _Click… BANG!_

Since he had taken enough blows to accumulate enough damage, the swift sword strike—combined with the explosion—launched DK into the closest blast line and removed him from the match. Luigi sighed in relief after Roy, his chosen fighter, had just claimed victory. Retrieving a bottle of water from the mansion's refrigerator, he patiently waited for the next battle to start.

The next few battles contained more of the typical attributes present during the first set. Mario possessed the setup and posture of Zelda, while his Altean opponent utilized Peach's style of fighting. Both opponents, fighting at the Pokémon Stadium, froze intermittently while uncontrollably trying to use projectiles that were not in their normal arsenals, especially in Mario's case. Marth's body would contort in strange manners during some of Peach's attacks, with the Peach Bomber being the strangest and silliest example. Mario's attacks were hybridized or even outright replaced with Zelda's magical prowess. As far as speed was concerned, the two combatants were slower than usual and exhibited unusual walking and sprinting cycles, although Marth was visibly more agile. Perhaps one of the stranger aspects in Luigi's eyes was Marth's use of Falchion in place of Peach's tools.

"Falchion… as a golf-a club?" the younger plumber muttered under his breath. Despite minor disruptions from stage transformations, Marth's quicker speed and trickier approach ultimately granted to him the leg-up he quietly desired, and his blade slammed head-on into Mario's torso for the finishing blow. Luigi sighed in disappointment, knowing that his hopes of Mario's victory had just been dashed despite the older plumber's strong performance in the previous tournament.

Set on the Fountain of Dreams, the next battle appeared to be even stranger. Regarding the Ice Climbers, Nana was completely frozen in place and could not take any action to defend herself. Popo, on the other hand, assumed Fox's fighting stance with distorted proportions. The opposite side of the stage contained Young Link, now configured to battle with Samus Aran's arsenal.

"…" Luigi kept silent as the young swordsman utilized the armored Smasher's special moves with glitchy side effects, along with fused standard attacks that represented the movesets of both fighters. Popo launched icicles with the speed of Fox's lasers and utilized the commando's special moves with some degree of bizarreness. Unusual visual effects, including fire around Popo when was ascending with Belay and Young Link curling into a sphere to drop his bombs on the ground, were dominant on the television screen, but not much else was memorable about the match. At the end, both fighters were on their last stocks; when Young Link tried to slam Popo into the depths with Samus's meteor attack, he overshot his mark and ended up soaring too far down from the ledge. Both fighters plummeted to the lower blast line after their failed attempts at recovery and were eliminated simultaneously, which forced a one-stock rematch between them.

"Oh, boy." Luigi's face turned droopy as it became clear that he would not earn the three points for which he had hoped. Now, the best result possible was a single point. Popo did his best to overwhelm his opponent with raw speed and surprising power, utilizing mixed and borrowed moves with surprising efficiency and a bit of clumsiness, but Young Link proved to be trickier than expected. His use of Samus's Grapple Beam dragged the young Eskimo in and slammed him up to three times before the fusion of the Fox Illusion and the Squall Hammer stunned him on contact. Nevertheless, he persisted in his effort to win and, after a brief clash, launched Popo with a point-blank missile from his sword; he also managed to land the meteor attack to seal his victory. Luigi calmed down slightly, knowing that his chosen fighter was the victor.

"That was-a close," he sighed. He retreated to his room to meditate and privately train for his next match. Only once did he emerge to check on the status of the fight between his brother's sworn enemy and the magical princess of Hyrule. Per Falco and Kirby's observations, it was a landslide victory in Bowser's favor. The giant Koopa possessed Roy's nimble setup and even the disjointed range connected to the young lord's blade, a far superior configuration compared to the weaker and embarrassing treatment brought upon Zelda.

"What, so Zelda had-a Pichu's fighting style?" the plumber asked. He tried to avoid showing his true emotions, all of which stemmed from the fact that Zelda, his chosen fighter, was the loser.

"Yeah," Falco replied. "She kept hurting herself with electricity on many of her attacks, and I think the randomization factor may have caused her moves to inflict recoil damage at unexpected times. She also kept freezing up at a far more frequent rate than Bowser. In either case, that giant son of a bitch clobbered her without losing any of his stocks."

"Poyo," Kirby agreed.

"That's unfortunate. In any case, I'll-a be practicing for my next-a match." Luigi exited the living room and returned to the mail office to submit his choices for the next set of matches, which was arranged as the following:

 _Samus vs. Peach_

 _Falco vs. Captain Falcon_

 _Pikachu vs. Dr. Mario_

 _DK vs. Link_

 _Mr. Game & Watch vs. Kirby_

 _Ness vs. Yoshi_

 _Jigglypuff vs. Peach_

 _Roy vs. Mewtwo_

 _Luigi vs. Young Link_

He quietly submitted his choices before entering the dojo for some practice, expecting to ward off nervousness and remain prepared for upsets. Before he did so, a note with the following message entered his line of sight:

 _HiyA, I forGOT to Tell YA this, but IF Ya win one of YOUR matchES, YA get TwO points. FAil, and ya get NONE._

"That's-a good to know…"

* * *

 **It's about time that I got back to this story after a year. Let's hope Luigi can win his next match and guess correctly on the others.**

 _ **Points accumulated: 12**_

 _ **Records:**_

 _ **Luigi: 1 win (Kirby), 0 losses, 0 stalemate wins (2 points)**_

 _ **Mario: 0 wins, 1 loss (Marth), 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **DK: 0 wins, 1 loss (Roy), 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **Yoshi: 1 win (Pichu), 0 losses, 0 stalemate wins (3 points)**_

 _ **Kirby: 0 wins, 1 loss (Luigi), 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **Fox: 0 wins, 1 loss (Falcon), 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **Captain Falcon: 1 win (Fox), 0 losses, 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **Ganondorf: 1 win (Mewtwo), 0 losses, 0 stalemate wins (3 points)**_

 _ **Mewtwo: 0 wins, 1 loss (Ganondorf), 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **Pichu: 0 wins, 1 loss (Yoshi), 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **Marth: 1 win (Mario), 0 losses, 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **Roy: 1 win (DK), 0 losses, 0 stalemate wins (3 points)**_

 _ **Young Link: 0 wins, 0 losses, 1 stalemate win (Ice Climbers) (1 point)**_

 _ **Ice Climbers: 0 wins, 1 loss (Young Link), 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **Zelda: 0 wins, 1 loss (Bowser), 0 stalemate wins**_

 _ **Bowser: 1 win (Zelda), 0 losses, 0 stalemate wins**_

 **R &R, and I'll see you later.**


End file.
